Panel Says Top Justice Dept. Aide Held Information on Rich's Pardon

By ALISON LEIGH COWAN

Published: March 13, 2002

A forthcoming Congressional report on the last-minute pardons by President Bill Clinton says Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was a ''willing participant in the plan to keep the Justice Department from knowing about and opposing'' a pardon for Marc Rich, the financier.

The 476-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, harshly criticizes the Clinton White House for its handling of the 177 pardons and commutations granted on its last day.

But the report, by the House Government Reform Committee -- whose chairman is Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who was a persistent critic of Mr. Clinton -- also takes the Bush administration to task for refusing to turn over pardon-related documents that may shed light on the White House deliberations. Mr. Clinton does not oppose the release of those documents.

The most controversial pardon went to Mr. Rich, a commodities trader who fled the country in 1983 rather than face trial on charges of tax evasion, racketeering and trading with the enemy. The report says that Mr. Rich's lawyers tried to circumvent prosecutors, who would oppose the pardon, and take their case straight to the White House.

Mr. Holder, the report says, played a major role, steering Mr. Rich's lawyers toward Jack Quinn, a former White House counsel. Mr. Rich hired Mr. Quinn, whose Washington contacts and ability to lobby the president made the difference, according to the report. It says that Mr. Holder's support for the pardon and his failure to alert prosecutors of a pending pardon were just as crucial.

The report says Mr. Holder became involved through a chance encounter with Gershon Kekst, a prominent public relations strategist who has advised Mr. Rich since 1997. The two men were seated together at a DaimlerChrysler dinner in November 1998, and Mr. Kekst asked what advice Mr. Holder had for someone who had been ''improperly indicted by an overzealous prosecutor.'' Mr. Holder recommended hiring ''a lawyer who knows the process, he comes to me, and we work it out.'' The report acknowledges that Mr. Holder did not realize he was speaking to someone in the Rich camp.

Mr. Holder's lawyer, Reid Weingarten, says the exchange was innocent. He said his client ''was at a Chrysler dinner, and a total stranger came up to him and engaged him in conversation about how the world works and mentions Jack Quinn.''

''Eric said positive things about Jack,'' Mr. Weingarten said. ''But the idea that he was hustling business for Jack Quinn didn't happen.''

The panel criticized Mr. Holder's conduct as unconscionable and cited several problems. It cited his admission last year that he had hoped Mr. Quinn would support his becoming attorney general in a Gore administration.

The report quoted an e-mail message on Nov. 18, 2000, that Mr. Quinn sent others on the Rich team as they wrote the pardon petition. In the message, Mr. Quinn recounts speaking to ''Eric'' the night before. ''He says go straight to wh. also says timing is good,'' Mr. Quinn wrote, using shorthand for the White House.

Mr. Weingarten said Mr. Holder did nothing improper. ''Eric never told Jack Quinn or anyone else to circumvent the Justice Department,'' he said.

The report faults Mr. Quinn for lobbying the White House at all in light of prevailing ethics rules that barred top aides from lobbying former colleagues for five years after leaving government. Mr. Quinn argued that the rules allowed flexibility for judicial proceedings. But Judge Denny Chin of United States District Court in Manhattan ruled in December that Mr. Quinn's role was more lobbying than lawyering.

The report also recommends that the Justice Department review its findings of ''a number of potential violations of law'' by Roger Clinton, Mr. Clinton's half-brother, in light of the criminal investigation being conducted by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

The report said, for example, that Mr. Clinton, a musician, had failed to register as a lobbyist for two companies that paid him $30,000 to contact his brother and other officials about easing restrictions on dealings with Cuba. The ''consulting agreement'' that Mr. Clinton signed describes him as being ''in the business of providing counsel and advice in the areas of International Business Relations with respect to the importing and exporting of goods to and from the United States.''

Roger Clinton's lawyer, Bart Williams, said he would not comment until he had read the report.

The report provides the fullest account yet of Roger Clinton's involvement in pardons. Of 15 cases studied, the panel found 8 where he had weighed in. ''Roger Clinton repeatedly treated his relationship to President Clinton as a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder,'' it said.

One episode documented by the committee concerned his efforts to obtain a $35,000-a-month contract from a local government group to help it snare a high-level administration official for a symposium.

The report also criticizes the ''recalcitrance'' of the Bush White House for refusing to turn over pardon-related documents that even Mr. Clinton has not sought to block. One batch pertains to Rosario Gambino, a heroin trafficker.

Roger Clinton lobbied heavily on his behalf at the Parole Commission and received cash and favors from the inmate's family. President Clinton did not grant Mr. Gambino a pardon or commutation. But an aide ordered a background check, indicating that he was being considered.

A White House spokeswoman, Anne Womack, said some unproduced files were highly sensitive and had yet to be formally requested by the committee.